NPC’s Soto named Student of the Month
Demonstrating strong leadership skills and a positive attitude both in the classroom and on the field, National Park College’s Luis Soto has been named Student of the Month for December.
Soto is a first-generation college student from Hamburg who plays for the Nighthawks’ soccer team, while pursuing his associate degree in General Technology. Set to graduate in 2024, he is a member of the International Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa.
“I feel honored and very thankful for Ms. (Janetta) Ritter and all of the business department that cast their vote on me,” he said. “I know the choice was up for grabs between me and two other of my classmates, which, they’re great students as well. I’m just very happy and delighted that they chose me … I feel appreciated for getting recognized for my hard work there in the classroom and outside the classroom.”
Ritter, a business professor at NPC, said in a news release that Soto is “always in class, is very respectful to me and his classmates, and engages in all classroom activities.”
Though coming to NPC to play soccer, he quickly found his niche at NPC thanks to a supportive faculty and a quality classroom experience.
“I could have went to a local community college back home, but when I went to go visit National Park, it was just … the choice was clear on why I wanted to go there. You know, the environment, the culture, it’s everything that I wanted. And also just to get that out-of-town experience, you know, being on my own,” he said.
Soto noted that his main interest has always been engineering but that math was never his strong point, academically. Looking for some
thing “hands-on” that deals with electrical work, two of his buddies told him about the technology program at NPC. He soon realized it was exactly the path for him.
NPC English Professor Roger Fox said Soto even helped him with a tour for prospective students, referring to his willingness to help in any way he could.
“Luis Soto is serious about his college, has a good head on his shoulders, and has a career plan mapped out,” he said in the release. “He has a good work ethic, good people skills, is honest and straightforward, and is just an overall good young man.”
Soto said he feels “very blessed and very fortunate” to be in the position that he is as a first-generation college student, noting that it pushes him to become a better student.
“I want to give a huge thanks to my parents as well for being able to provide for me and for my education … I thank the Lord that I did really good in high school, which helped me pay the majority of my education at National Park. But even then, you know, there’s also times where I might need a little grocery money or money to go out. I know I can always make a phone call to my dad or my mom and they’ll provide. And so having that support system really helps out a lot,” he said.
Being the first in his family to receive a higher education, he said, gives him great pride, as he knows he is making his parents proud. While they may not have been fortunate enough to attend college themselves, they are proud to see him achieving the success he is.
“The opportunities they didn’t have, you know, I’m taking it, and maybe they see themselves in me … what they could have done too if they had the same opportunity as well,” he said.
With his involvement in extracurricular activities at NPC, he says it will only help him in his educational and career pursuits. Opportunities to be in Phi Theta Kappa, for example, he said, just do not come to everyone, and he is very thankful and honored to participate in everything he can.
WARSAW, Poland — Donald Tusk, a leader of a centrist party, returned as Poland’s prime minister for the first time in nearly a decade after a vote in parliament on Monday, paving the way for a new pro-European Union government following eight years of stormy national conservative rule.
Tusk, a former EU leader who served as European Council president from 20142019 and has strong connections in Brussels, is expected to improve Warsaw’s standing in the bloc’s capital. He was Poland’s prime minister from 2007-2014.
Tusk’s ascension to power came nearly two months after an election which was won by a coalition of parties ranging from left-wing to moderate conservative. The parties ran on separate tickets, but promised to work together under Tusk’s leadership to restore democratic standards and improve ties with allies.
The change of power is felt as hugely consequential for the 38 million citizens of the Central European nation, where collective anger against the Law and Justice party produced a record-high turnout to replace a government many believed was eroding democratic norms.
Law and Justice, which took office in 2015, increased its power over courts and judicial bodies, drawing accusations from the EU and others that it was eroding judicial independence. It also turned taxpayer funded public media into a party mouthpiece.
The vote was 248-201 in support of Tusk in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm, with no abstentions.
“Thank you Poland, this is truly a wonderful day,” Tusk said in a short speech.
“Not only for me, but for all those who throughout these many years deeply believed ... that things would get better.”
Tusk is scheduled on Tuesday to give a more substantial speech to parliament, present his Cabinet and face a vote of confidence for his new government.
He should then be sworn in by President Andrzej Duda, a step scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The election of Tusk comes after the former government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier in the day.